American Birds magazine has been renamed North American Birds,
and from 1 August 2000 will include reports south through Panamá. "Each
quarterly column includes reports of unusual or rare migratory and resident bird
species seen; interesting population trends, such as range expansions and
contractions, seasonal influxes, and nesting anomalies; and general migration
phenomena, such as early and late arrival and departure dates, unusually high or
low numbers, vagrants, and attempts to correlate migration phenomena with
regional weather patterns whenever possible." Please send your reports for
México to Héctor Gómez de Silva (hgomez [at] miranda.ecologia.unam.mex) and for
Central America to Lee Jones (buteo [at] attglobal.net).

Another reminder: the
Neotropical Bird Club
needs your support, so please join or renew if you have not done so already.

"New name for the Bolivian Blackbird." Peter E. Lowther, Bull. B.O.C.
121(4): 280-281 (2001). Following the suggestion of Johnson & Lanyon (1999) that
the Bay-winged Cowbird be transferred from Molothrus (parasitic cowbirds) to
Oreopsar (the formerly monotypic Bolivian Blackbird), Lowther has resolved a
nomenclature problem by placing both species in Agelaioides, which has priority
over Oreopsar. The Bay-winged Cowbird reverts to Agelaioides badius, and the
Bolivian Blackbird becomes Agelaioides oreopsar.

Warbling-Finch relationships are more complex than previously believed: S.C.
Lougheed, J.R. Freeland, P. Handford, P.T. Boag. "A molecular phylogeny of
Warbling-Finches (Poospiza): Paraphyly in a neotropical emberizid genus."
Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution. 17(3): 367-378 (2000). From the
abstract: "Poospiza have traditionally been considered part of the emberizine
radiation. However, our analyses suggest that members of this genus are more
closely related to some thraupine lineages than they are to the other
neotropical emberizine genera included in our study (Atlapetes, Embernagra,
Melopyrrha, Phrygilus, Saltatricula, Tiaris). Although member taxa are closely
related, the genus Poospiza appears to be paraphyletic with representatives of 6
thraupine genera (Cnemoscopus, Cypsnagra, Hemispingus, Nephelornis, Pyrrhocoma,
Thylpopsis) interspersed among four well-supported Poospiza clades."

Nine-primaried Oscine Relationships - publication of a new DNA study by J.
Klicka, K.P. Johnson & S.M. Lanyon in the April 2000 Auk. From the
abstract: "Our results suggest that Euphonia is not a tanager but
perhaps represents a derived form of cardueline finch. Piranga,
traditionally considered a typical tanager, is a cardinaline in all of our
analyses. Calcarius falls outside the sparrow lineage in all of our
analyses, but its true affinities remain unclear. Elements of four different AOU
families are represented in our clade Thraupini. The inclusion of several
"tanager-finches" (Haplospiza, Diglossa, Tiaris,
Volatinia, Sporophila) and a nectarivore (Coereba) in this
clade is consistent with findings from other molecular phylogenies in suggesting
that convergence in feeding specializations among some lineages has confounded
traditional morphological classifications." Auk 117(2):321-336 (2000).

Might the Cuban Poorwill, Siphonorhis daiquiri, survive in arid
southeast Cuba? The species was described by Storrs Olson from fossil evidence
in 1985. In a report on subsequent fossil discoveries, William Suárez writes
that it would be "almost unsurprising" if the nocturnal, secretive and
relatively silent (based on S. brewsteri of Hispaniola) species still
exists.
Cotinga 14 (2000):66-68.

In a message to the Neoorn list in December 2000, Arturo Kirkconnell reported
that he had been observing the first Spotted Rail nest found in Cuba in the
Zapata Swamp.

Guy Kirwan and Michael Flieg observed three Cuban (Hook-billed) Kites
Chondrohierax uncinatus wilsonii in January 2001 in a still extensively
forested area in the Santiago region. American Birds 33(2): 137 (April
2001).

White-breasted Thrasher Ramphocinclus brachyurus will be
virtually wiped out on St. Lucia by a cricket [the sport] resort funded by the
European Investment Bank and surrounding development.
BirdLife 22 April 2005.

Not satisfied simply to destroy their own country, the government of Taiwan
is funding a road across St. Vincent that threatens the St. Vincent Parrot
Amazona guildingii.
BirdLife 8 December 2004.

Nick Gardner had 35 Aztec Thrushes just below treeline (3100m - 3300m)
at Volcán Nieve, Jalisco on 16 April 2001. Also notable was a Colima Warbler.
Nick reported finding easy access to higher elevations on a good gravel road. He
had an Eared Poorwill 1.6 km below the micro-ondas on Volcán Fuego, Jalisco on
14 April.

Karl Overman and Peter Kaestner drove from Brownsville, Texas to Guatemala in
May, 2000, looking for Mexican endemics along the way. (See
Karl's detailed daily notes of the trip.) They found White-throated Jay,
Cyanolyca mirabilis, at the same spot where Dave Sargeant and I had them in
April, 1993, in second growth pine-oak forest along a logging track about 25 km
north of La Soledad (near El Porvenir) on the Puerto Ángel Road, Oaxaca. In
Coatepec, Veracruz, they went out with Pedro Mota Hernández, the
Bearded Wood-Partridge guide, but only heard Dendrortyx barbatus. Sr.
Mota said that he has taken out 20 groups of foreign birders to look for
barbatus, but birds were seen on only four occasions. Despite spending eight
hours searching, they missed Nava's Wren, Hylorchilus navai.

"The attack from the left - long an ally of conservation movements -
has scared off the Washington-based World Wildlife Fund, which in 2000
signed a petition calling for the removal of settlers, but later dropped
that position and now refuses to talk about the reserve.

"'We learned our lesson that time. We found ourselves in the middle
of so much polemics that you can't answer them,' said Mercedes Otegui,
spokeswoman for the WWF in Mexico. 'Our policy is now just not to get
involved.'"

Guatemala:
During a meeting on jaguar and bat survey techniques at Tikal in June 2001, a
park guard was shot and killed, another guard was shot and wounded, and an
American woman was raped 500m from the hotel. After the entire group left early,
a field crew's vehicle was fired upon with automatic weapons. (Bruce Miller on
Neoorn-l). It has since been reported (on BirdChat) that there have been 30
violent incidents at Tikal in the past year, although they were successfully
covered up prior to the succession of terrible crimes during an international
conference. The police now have begun to round up the usual suspects. (PrensaLibre.com)

On 14 February 2000, Tom Brooks watched two
Horned
Guans, Oreophasis derbianus, calling and heard a third bird answer
them in steep cloud forest above
Fuentes
Georginas, a
hot spring
resort south of
Quetzaltenango where the species used to be seen regularly. This is the
first report brought to my attention since J. Stratford saw five birds in July,
1990. The site is a little below 3,000 m on
Volcán Zunil. While much of the remaining forest has been destroyed in the
past 20 years, the noisy, jet-like geothermal project that formerly drowned out
bird song has not been operating during recent visits. UPDATE: Jason Berry of
GBRC reports that
Horned Guans were seen on two of his tours in March 2001 in a more remote area
below Fuentes Georginas.

Honduras: A New Zealand woman was shot four
times in the stomach and her Israeli boyfriend was killed during an armed
robbery in Pico Bonito National Park on July 11, 2001. They had travelled by bus
to the rainforest park, south east of the town of La Ceiba, and had begun
walking when they passed by two men on a motorcycle. The two men returned and
held up the pair at gunpoint. (Ecoclub.com News).

The washed-out Pipeline Road bridge has been repaired. You still need a key
to enter, which can be obtained through Canopy Tower or the Gamboa Rainforest
Lodge. (Bob Ridgely).

Of the many fine articles in the
Autumn 1998 issue of Cotinga, one of the most interesting is
W.J. Adsett & D.C. Wege, Natural history of the little-known Speckled Antshrike,
Xenornis setifrons. (10:24-29). The authors advise that the best chances
for finding the species are on the first 2 km of the Ibe Igar trail at Nusagandi
(about 2.5 hours northeast of Panama City by 4 x 4 vehicle), in the dry season.

The staff at
Canopy Adventure, in El Valle de Antón, less than an hour's drive west of
Panama City, regularly track a family party of RUFOUS-VENTED GROUND-CUCKOOS,
Neomorphus geoffroyi, as the birds follow army ants, and may be to find them
for visitors.

Department of no surprise: Two-year study in western Panamá finds isolated
shade coffee plantations not to be beneficial to resident, ant-following birds.
ENN 27 Sep 2000.

In July 2002, Jorge Velasquez and Alonso Quevedo located a flock of 14
Fuertes Parrots Hapalopsittaca fuertesi, perhaps the last flock in the
last patch of suitable cloud forest habitat in Quindío and obtained photos,
videos and tape recordings.
Proyecto Hapalopsittaca.

The newly-discovered Chestnut-capped Piha Lipaugus weberihas been described and illustrated (by John O'Neill) in the July 2001 issue
of Ibis. Cuervo, Salaman, Donegan & Ochoa, Ibis (2001)
143:353-368. The bird has been found in a narrow band of sub-Andean forest
(1500m - 1820m) on the northern slope of the Central Cordillera. As the
remaining remnants of suitable habitat are being destroyed, the bird has been
proposed for listing as Endangered. An important site is a 320-ha block of
primary forest at La Forzosa, which also holds Black Tinamou Tinamus osgoodi,
Red-bellied Grackle Hypopyrrhus hypogaster,Multicolored Tanager
Chlorochrysa nitidissima and Black-and-Gold Tanager Bangsia melanochlamys.

Researchers
with
Proyecto Ognorhynchus, studying YELLOW-EARED PARROTS, OGNORHYNCHUS
ICTEROTIS, in Colombia have found a total of 110 birds, including 24 adult
pairs, in a remote valley in central Colombia. The study area, which is
completely unprotected, contains the largest remaining stand of the Quindio Wax
Palm, which the parrots require for feeding, nesting and roosting. It is
suspected that the wax palm depends upon the Mountain (Wooly) Tapir, a
threatened species, for seed germination after the tapir's consumption of ripe
fruit.

Chris Sharpe is working on an inventory of the birds of Hato Piñero and would
be interested in records of any unusual birds observed there. E-mail him at:
rodsha[at]telcel.net.ve.

David Ascanio reported on the Neoorn List about a National Guard checkpoint
in Sierra de Lema, Canaima National Park, at 1300 m elevation, with lights that
attract a great number and variety of moths. On 6 August 2001, while leading a
tour, he observed 13 Golden-tufted Mountain-Grackles and a variety of other
birds feeding on moths around the lights. The guards explained that the birds
had been coming in every morning for about a month. Birders should speak with
José Flores, who will show you the moths and birds. David suggests bringing
small items for José, such as booklets about Venezuelan birds.

Anyone interested in Venezuelan ornithology or planning a birding trip to
Venezuela should obtain a copy of "Further range extensions and noteworthy
records for Venezuelan birds", by Christopher J. Sharpe, David
Ascanio-Echeverria and Gustavo A. Rodríguez, Bull. B.O.C. 121(1):50-62
(March 2001). I was particularly interested to read of the apparent range
extension south by the Rusty-flanked Crake, Laterallus levraudi, a
poorly-known Venezuelan endemic, which was found by Ascanio, Josep del Hoyo and
Jordi Sargatal in February 1998 at a small pool in Boconoíto, Barinas. The
authors write: "It is probable that deforestation along the eastern flank of the
Andes, together with the construction of dykes and pools for watering cattle,
has allowed the species to spread southwards through Falcón, Yaracuy and
Barinas. Records are to be expected from Portuguesa."

In an article in Cotinga 14 (2000): 30-32, Thomas Brooks reported on
his observations of the critically endangered Grey-headed Warbler,
Basileuterus grisiceps, on Cerro Negro, Monagas, accessed from the road
between the frequently-visited Oilbird cave and Caricao. He found a path into
virgin cloudforest (c.3 hours slow climb) starting at a blue gate slightly below
the deserted Hacienda Cerro Negro in Sabana de Piedra, and observed one
individual of grisiceps on two successive days. Although the area is
within Parque Nacional Cueva de los Guácharos, the understorey is being cleared
for shade coffee, dooming grisciceps and other understorey species.

Request: Bob Ridgely would be particularly interested in a complete and
accurate bird list for Rio Grande, Bolívar and the forest reserve to the east.

The December 1999 issue of the Bulletin of the British Ornithologists Club
includes an important article by Steve Hilty with notes on poorly-known species
and three new records from Venezuela. (Bull B.O.C. 119(4):220-235). Here
is an excerpt from the author's description of the foraging behavior of
Guttulated Foliage-gleaners, Syndactyla guttulata: "They hop rather
heavily in foliage and often hang or cling sideways to understorey branches to
inspect dead twigs and broken branch and twig ends, and regularly use their
peculiar bill to pry off loose or flaking bark, or chip it off with a
characteristic chiseling motion recalling that of Simoxenops and
Neoctantes. On 3 September 1994 the species was observed attending a large
swarm of Echiton sp. army ants."

A RUFOUS-WINGED GROUND-CUCKOO, Neomorphus rufipennis, was seen on a
side trail off the main road 8 km North of the Cabello junction in the Caura
Forest on 15 February 1999. (R. Williams; G. George trip report).

Guyana: A previously
unknown population of Red Siskins has been discovered in the Rupununi Savanna of
southwestern Guyana. Surveys in adjacent Roraima, Brazil have thus far failed to
locate birds. See "Discovery of a Population of the Endangered Red Siskin (Carduelis
cucullata) in Guyana" by Mark B. Robbins, Michael J. Braun, and Davis W.
Finch. Auk
120(2): 291-298 (April 2003). See also
AP article, 19 June 2003.

Guyane: There is a
photo of Rufous Potoo, Nyctibius bracteatus, on the
Sépanguy website. The photo,
by Stanislaus Blanc, presumably was taken in Guyane, and probably was the first
record for the country. The first specimens were collected in 2000. Cleere &
Ingels, Bull. B.O.C. 122(2): 154-155. Rufous Potoo occurs in Guyana and
should be much easier to find now that a commercial tape is available.

Ecuador: Rick Waldrop reported that a
Maroon-chested Ground-Dove visited the yard of Vinício Pérez in Mindo in early
morning during December 2002. Vinício, a well-known Ecuadorian bird guide, may
be contacted at vinicioperez [at] andinanet.net.

The team of Nick Athamas, Iain Campbell, Paul Coopmans and Richard White set
what must be a new record for the most species of hummingbirds observed in one
day in Ecuador on 6 March 2002. Here is their list in chronological order:

I regret to report the death of Dr. Fernando Ortiz-Crespo in a boating
accident on Laguna Micacocha in the Reserva Antisana at about 4,000 m.

On 16 September 2001, Paul Coopmans observed 17 species of hummingbirds in
the last hour of daylight at the Tandayapa Bird Lodge feeders.

Belated tick: Dave Sargeant and I observed a pair of small parrots at
SierrAzul in October 1992, but were unable to identify them at the time.
Fortunately, we made critical notes, including a transcription of the calls.
Upon receiving my copy of Birds
of Ecuador, I was pleased to confirm that the birds were Spot-winged
Parrotlets, Touit stictoptera. With this uncertainty resolved,
I have posted notes on birds
observed at SierrAzul on trips in June and October, 1992 and apreliminary
checklist for SierrAzul, a superb cloud forest ecolodge on the east
slope of the Andes.

On 30 December 2000, Fernando Ortiz Crespo visited Reserva La Caja near
Cuenca and with assistance from a very able guide, Lizardo Guevera, Jr., was
able to see two Andean Condors, now a very rare bird in Ecuador. Sr. Guevera
advised that a young bull had died in the vicinity a week before and he had seen
11 Condors feeding on the carcass. Other birds observed at La Caja (páramo at
3830m) included a flock of Tit-like Dacnis, Great Horned Owls, Chimborazo
(Andean) Hillstar, Shining Sunbeam and Blue-mantled Thornbill. (Neoorn-L)

A new species of confusing, greenish tyrannid has been described by Paul
Coopmans and Niels Krabbe in Wilson Bull. 112(3): 305-312 (9/2000). They
have named it the Foothill Elaenia, Myiopagis olallai, since it has been
found at 800 - 1,500 m in eastern Ecuador and Peru. It is most similar in
plumage to Grey Elaenia, M. caniceps, and Forest Elaenia, M. gaimardii.
However, its song, first recorded by Coopmans, is a harsh, ascending trill,
different from other Myiopagis. A specimen found by Krabbe in the AMNH
collection had been incorrectly identified as M. gaimardii. Both Grey and
Forest Elaenias are much more common than the majority of trip reports would
lead one to believe. They are most easily identified by their distinctive
vocalizations.

Kieran Fahy reported in August 2000: "I have just returned from a 10-day
birding trip to Northern Ecuador. While there I saw at first hand habitat
destruction in action. The (formerly) excellent lowland forest at Pedro Vicente
Maldonado was in the process of being clear-felled. Despite this, we saw a
Plumbeous Forest-Falcon (Endangered), sadly sitting in the trees which were
about to be felled."

On 1 September 2000, Tony Nunnery and Mark Lockwood had Double-banded
Graytail, Xenerpestes mintosiand Scarlet-thighed Dacnis,
Dacnis venusta, among large numbers of birds temporarily concentrated in the
patch of remaining forest at Pedro Vicente Maldonado. Except for the patch, the
entire area had been cleared, with the tree carcasses waiting to be hauled away.

Henna-hooded Foliage-Gleaner, Hylocryptus erythrocephalus, has
been found in highly-disturbed scrub and second-growth adjacent to a homestead
on Cerro San Sebastian (600m) in Machalilla National Park. D. Becker et al.,
Cotinga 13:55-58 (Spring 2000).

A Maroon-chested Ground Dove, Claravis mondetoura, was observed at
approximately 1,250m in Mindo on 12 December 1999, and a Crimson-breasted Finch,
Rhodospingus cruentus, was seen in the same area on 14 December. (V.
Perez & J. Lyons).

On 20 November 1997, Bob Ridgely et al. discovered a distinctive new species
of large antpitta at a well-birded locale, the Que Barada
Honda Trail, on the Loja-Zamora Road in southern Ecuador. (The
Tapichalaca Reserve has since been established there by Fundación Jocotoco.)
About 12 pairs were located by voice, said to be a double hoot reminiscent of a
Huet-Huet, between 2,300 and 2,600 m. The bird has now been described as
Grallaria ridgelyi, Jocotoco Antpitta, by Krabbe et al., Auk 116(4):882-890
(October 1999). To order a copy of the issue, which features a color plate of
ridgelyi by Paul Greenfield on the cover (see above), contact the
OSNA.

When mistnets were set up to capture examples of the antpitta, the
ornithologists unexpectedly caught an apparent new species of Thripophaga
softtail.

A new species, Mishana Tyrannulet, Zimmerius villarejoi, has
been described by José Alvarez Alonso and Bret Whitney in the Wilson Bulletin
(2001) 113(1):1-9. It is known only from white sand forests in northeastern
Amazonian Peru, and has been found along the newly-paved road between Iquitos
and Nauta. This is one of four new species recently discovered by the authors in
the vicinity of Iquitos. Ancient Antwren, Herpsilochmus gentryi,
has already been described. Whitney & Alvarez, Auk (1998) 115:559-576.
See two articles about José "Pepe" Alvarez, with bird photos:

Another new species, Lulu's Tody-Tyrant, Poecilotriccus luluae,
has been described by N.K. Johnson and R.E. Jones in Auk (2001) 118(2):
334-341. It has thus far been found in a limited area of northern Peru
east of Bágua Grande and south of the R. Marañón.

Huw Lloyd has scanned some of his
handheld photos from SE
Peru, including Rufous-fronted Antthrush, Formicarius rufifrons (from
the Cuzco Amazonico Reserve near Puerto Maldonado), and Rufous-headed
Woodpecker, Celeus spectabilis. See his article on the nesting behavior
of C. spectabilis at the Tambopata Reserve at Bull. B.O.C.
120(2):129-132.

A new species, the Black-spectacled Brush-Finch, Atlapetes melanops,
has been described from a restricted range in central Peru. T. Valqui & J.
Fieldsa, Ibis 141:194-198.

Bennett Hennessey
believes that the critically threatened Bolivian Swallow-tailed Cotinga,
Phibalura flavirostris boliviana, recently rediscovered in Madidi
National Park, deserves species status. In preparation for field work, he is
seeking recordings of the Brazilian nominate form of this usually quiet bird.
(tangara[at]unete.com).

New information on plumage, nesting, behaviour and vocalisations of the
Bolivian Swallow-tailed Cotinga Phibalura flavirostris boliviana from the
Apolo area of Madidi National Park, Bolivia. By Geoff Bromfield et al.
Cotinga 21 (2004): 63-67 (pdf).

Thomas Valqui reports in Cotinga 14 (2000): 105 on the rediscovery of
Royal Cinclodes, Cinclodes aricomae, in Bolivia, in a small isolated
patch of Polylepis c. 3 hours beyond Puina along an old mule trail from
Pelechuco to Apolo in Madidi National Park.

Neotropical Notebook in Cotinga 14 (2000): 106 reports that a breeding
plumaged Hooded Grebe, Podiceps gallardoi, was observed c.10 km east of
Porvenir, Region XII, on 20 October 1997. There is only one previous published
record for Chile. (Cotinga 11).